1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of target traps used by shooters to hurl targets for shooting practice.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gun enthusiasts use target traps to throw targets, such as clay pigeons, into the air for shooting practice. Most portable target traps use a spring-loaded throwing arm that is cocked into a retracted position and held in place by a trigger. In the retracted position, the spring is stretched so as to store substantial potential energy. Upon actuation of the trigger, the arm is freed to move under the spring force. A target, previously loaded onto the throwing arm, will ride along a guide rail until the throwing arm reaches a throwing position, at which point the target will be thrown from the throwing arm into the air.
In their most basic configuration, target traps pivot freely on a base frame. After throwing a target, the throwing arm will oscillate until the spring is relaxed and the throwing arm is in a neutral position. In order to cock the throwing arm, an operator must grasp the frame and the arm and pivot the arm about the frame through approximately 180.degree. in order to stretch the spring and position the arm in the trigger mechanism. This operation requires some strength and can obviously become more difficult to perform after sequential repetition.
One prior art solution that eased the difficulty of cocking required that the throwing arm be mounted on a pivot assembly having a clutch mechanism. Under this solution, the throwing arm would always move in one direction only, e.g., the counterclockwise (CCW) direction. After throwing the target, the arm would continue forward CCW under its momentum until the kinetic energy of the arm is converted into potential energy in the spring. The clutch assembly then prevents recoil of the throwing arm in the clockwise (CW) direction. Thus, for example, if a throwing arm were cocked in a six o'clock position (i.e., pointing back towards an operator) and thereafter fired, the throwing arm would throw the target at approximately the 12 o'clock position. Thereafter, the momentum of the throwing arm would continue carrying it forward in the CCW direction until the kinetic energy of the throwing arm had been converted to potential energy in the spring at approximately the nine o'clock position where it would be held by the clutch. Thus, the throwing arm would be one-quarter to three-quarters cocked. To complete cocking, the operator would simply rotate the throwing arm CCW from the nine o'clock position into the six o'clock position.
Although the use of clutches adequately addressed the problems noted above, they are expensive and, because of a greater number of moving parts, they are subject to failure.